Justin Trudeau Addresses Groping Allegations From 18 Years Ago

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded on Sunday to allegations that he groped a woman at a music festival in Creston, British Columbia, nearly two decades ago.

“I remember that day in Creston well, ” he told reporters during a three-day tour in Regina, Canada. “I had a good day that day. I don’t remember any negative interactions that day at all.”

The claims versus Trudeau resurfaced in June when a Twitter individual shared an image of an editorial article created by an anonymous reporter in 2000 in Creston Valley Breakthrough, a neighborhood paper.

The article alleges that Trudeau, then a 28-year-old teacher, groped a female reporter at the Kokanee Summit music festival in 2000.

“I’m sorry. If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward, ” the editorial quoted Trudeau as telling the reporter after the alleged incident.

Trudeau was not yet prime minister, but was famous at the time for being the son of Pierre Trudeau, who served as Canada’s prime minister for 15 years in the 1970s and ’80s.

At the time, Trudeau was visiting the Kokanee Summit to elevate money for the Avalanche Structure, a charity Trudeau came to be entailed with after his younger bro, Michael, was killed in an avalanche in 1998.

According to the editorial, Trudeau apologized for “inappropriately handling” the reporter a day after the alleged incident occurred.